Internal audit uncovers secret sale of official kits inside Corinthians

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Central do Timão

·16 November 2025

Internal audit uncovers secret sale of official kits inside Corinthians

By Larissa Beppler | Central do Timão Editorial Team

An internal audit conducted at Corinthians identified a scheme of illegal sales of official uniforms within the club's own premises. The case is part of a series of irregularities pointed out in the report, which reveals serious flaws in the management, control, and distribution of sports materials provided by Nike to Timão.

According to the document, Corinthians received 41,963 items from the supplier in 2025, an increase of 24% compared to the previous year, in addition to 13,503 licensed items purchased by the club itself. Despite this, athletes from various modalities still suffer from a lack of basic uniformity, as reported by the portal UOL. The Central do Timão had access to the full report and details below one of the cases identified by the audit team.

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Photo: Reproduction/Corinthians

Employee caught selling club uniforms

During the audit work, the team received an anonymous tip reporting the existence of illegal trading of institutional materials, conducted both inside and outside Parque São Jorge. According to the informant, club employees were acting as intermediaries, passing official Nike items to third parties for payment.

To verify the information, the auditors conducted a controlled purchase on October 11, 2025, acquiring two official shirts for R$ 150 each. The payment, via PIX, was directed to a bank account belonging to a club employee. Two days later, on October 13, a new purchase was made, this time of a purple model from the 2025 collection.

The three pieces were analyzed and their authenticity confirmed by the auditors, who certified them as original materials belonging to the institutional stock. The report points out three main irregularities: the commercialization of official club materials, the direct involvement of an employee in the transaction, and the execution of the illicit activity within Corinthians' premises.

Official uniforms irregularly sold at the club. Photo: Reproduction/Internal Audit Report

Given the severity of the episode, one of the auditors immediately informed President Osmar Stábile, who activated the relevant areas and personally went to the site to follow the preliminary investigation. Confronted, the employee – identified in the PIX record as José Antonio de Melo – confessed to the involvement in the practice, according to the report.

The case was internally forwarded for administrative investigation and appropriate measures, adding to other irregularities pointed out by the audit, including R$ 6.4 million in invoices not recorded in the system and the absence of a formal inventory in the Parque São Jorge warehouse, highlighting structural problems in Corinthians' sports materials management.

Civil Police opens inquiry; vice-president summoned

In addition to the internal investigation, the situation began to be investigated by the Civil Police, after the Public Prosecutor's Office identified possible qualified theft and "parallel commercialization" of materials intended for the club.

The inquiry is under the responsibility of Delegate César Saad, from the Delegation for Repression of Sports Intolerance Crimes (Drade), who has already heard the auditor Marcelo Munhoes and summoned the club's vice-president Armando Mendonça to provide clarifications within the scope of the investigations, as his name appears in the report as responsible for the management of sports materials supplied by Nike.

The document also points out that the director withdrew 131 items without formal request or recorded justification. In response to the conclusions presented, Mendonça sent an extrajudicial notification to the auditors. He contests the findings made against him in the internal audit report and claims that there is no "minimal evidence, suitable documentary basis, or traceable proof."

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